Expanding the Network

On Monday night I took part in a filmmaker forum of sorts. I was invited by my colleague, documentary filmmaker Laura Zinger, to join a discussion of independent filmmaking. Specifically, we discussed our current efforts but also speculated on the future of how our films will be financed, produced and distributed. It was a robust discussion and I met some great people:

• Chris Folkens - check out the trailer for his most recent short Diversion
• Logan M. Futej - recently directed his feature-length documentary debut All We Had
  
• Brett Thompson - producer of the Slamdance award-winner The Scenesters
• Ben Hicks - currently producing his feature-length debut Kids Go Free to Fun Fun Time
• Laura Zinger - working on multiple documentaries through her company 20K Films

A particular focus of our discussion was Fandependent Films, a distribution tool Ben is developing with a partner. Their intent is to provide online distribution in a way where the audience and filmmakers are directly engaged with mutual benefits. Ben was looking for feedback from filmmakers on his proposed model and some interesting points were discussed. By his estimate, Fandependent is about 85% developed and from our discussions I am eager to see it launch. We, fimmakers AND audience members, need distribution outlets like Fandependent.

We're planning to meet again in the coming months to continue our discussions. I look forward to it.